Melampus
In
Greek Mythology,
Melampus, or
Melampous, was a
soothsayer and
healer who could talk to
animals. A number of
pseudepigraphal works of
divination circulated under his name.
As a young boy, he told his
servants not to kill two
snakes. Grateful, the snakes gave Melampus the ability to speak with animals.
Melampus lived in
Pylos during the
reign of
Anaxagoras or possibly
Proetus. The king offered a reward for anybody that could heal his son, who suffered from a strange malady. Melampus killed an
ox and talked to the
vultures that came to eat the corpse. They said that the last time they had had such a feast was when the king had made a
sacrifice. They told Melampus that the prince had been frightened of the big, bloody knife and the king tossed it aside to calm the child. It had hit a tree and injured a
hamadryad, who
cursed the prince with the sickness. The hamadryad told Melampus that the boy would be healed if the knife was taken out of the trunk of the tree and boiled, then the prince should drink the
rusty water that resulted. Melampus followed her directions and, as payment for the cure, demanded two thirds of the
kingdom for himself, and one third for his brother,
Bias. The king agreed.
Another version of Melampus' story:
When the women of
Argos were driven mad by
Dionysus, in the reign of
Anaxagoras or possibly
Proetus, Melampus was brought in to cure them, but demanded a third of the kingdom as payment. The king refused, but the women became wilder than ever, and he was forced to seek out Melampus again, who this time demanded both a third for himself and another third for his brother Bias.
After this there were three kings ruling Argos at any time, one descended from each of Bias, Melampus, and Anaxagoras. Melampus was succeeded by his son
Mantius, and his house of Melampus lasted down to the brothers
Alcmaeon and
Amphilochus, who fought in the
Trojan War.
Late in his life, Melampus was
kidnapped. In his cell, he overheard two
termites talking, claiming they would be finished eating through Melampus'
ceiling the next morning. Melampus called his
captors and demanded a move. He made such an uproar that the kidnappers agreed. When the ceiling collapsed the next morning, the kidnappers decided he was a
prophet and that to hold on to him might offend the gods. They let him go.
Three works have survived under the name "Melampus." (1)
Peri Palmon Mantike, an extended treatise on divination by
twitches (
palomancy), existing in a number of versions; (2)
Peri Elaion tou somatos, a short work on divination by
moles (translation http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/astdiv/melampus.html); and (3) An
astrological lunarium. The twitch text begins with a
dedication to a king Ptolemy, probably
Ptolemy Philadelphus, which is also probably
spurious.
